paper cranes
by revolution rae
Summary: we fold them by the thousands. / freeverse collection.
1. inhuman

**an.** I've decided to start a new freeverse collection. Of Nargles and Beautiful Girls is long and tired. I need a change. So here we go. :)

**disclaimer. **I have no rights to the Harry Potter franchise, unfortunately.

* * *

><p><strong>character.<strong> Ginny Weasley

**(un)pairing: **Ginny/Dean

**an/rant.** **(feel free to bypass. has a DH spoiler.) **I think so many people on here forget that Ginny was possessed by Voldemort at the age of eleven. That had to have an impact. Consequences that would last years, maybe a lifetime. People constantly excuse Harry for the issues resulting from his possession and battles with Voldemort. Yet, Ginny is supposed to have recovered entirely from such a trauma, while also dealing with war, poverty, prejudice, Percy's running away and its effect on Molly, and eventually Fred's death. I think that's ridiculous. She would have suffered from months of being possessed by the Horcrux of the most powerful Dark wizard of all time. ... Okay, rant over. :)

* * *

><p><strong>inhuman.<strong>

he cried and asked for one last chance,  
>but she told him <em>no<em>. he begged, but she  
>couldn't do it anymore -<br>his proclamations of love and forever and futures  
>that they both knew would never happen.<p>

before he left, he wiped his eyes  
>(furiously) and said he knew why she was<br>doing this - said he knew it was about harry.  
>and she slapped him, hard,<br>because it wasn't. it wasn't.

no, ginny weasley was not leaving him,  
>(he was one of those sensitive-artist-types)<br>for harry potter, despite the way she liked to  
>let her gaze linger on the shape of his jaw.<p>

the truth of it was, she could not love dean  
>the way dean loved her, and she<br>already knew why. it had nothing to do with harry,  
>and everything to do with <em>him <em>-  
>the <em>other<em> one -

/ t. o. m. / r. i. d. d. l. e. /

(his name felt dirty in her mind.)  
>he had drained her of the ability to love<br>long before she even had the chance to try.

he took her humanity;  
>she was not human, she was not human.<p> 


	2. counting

**character**. dolores umbridge.

**pairing. **n/a

**an. **because as much as i hate her, she's more than the words on the page. also, i was researching OCD today, so i was inspired.

* * *

><p><strong>counting.<strong>

(seven. four. eight.)  
>(eight. four. seven.)<p>

(seven. four. eight.)  
>(eight. four. seven.)<p>

(seven. four. eight.)  
>dolores needed consistency, routine.<br>she _could - not - handle_  
>the idea of asymmetry;<br>it was simply unacceptable.  
>(eight. four. seven.)<p>

(seven. four. eight.)  
>and truthfully, she hated that about herself -<br>her own inability to loosen up.  
>even at the age of thirteen, she was<br>easily annoyed, detached from her peers.  
>(eight. four. seven.)<p>

(seven. four. eight.)  
>and counting, always counting,<br>feverishly, silently, ceaselessly.  
>the number of letters in words, words in sentences,<br>sentences in conversations.  
>(eight. four. seven.)<p>

(seven. four. eight.)  
>it was torture, torture indeed,<br>and something no healer could fix.  
>because really there was nothing wrong with her -<br>she was perfectly healthy. just a little crazy.  
>(eight. four. seven.)<p>

(seven. four. eight.)  
>(eight. four. seven.)<p>

(seven. four. eight.)  
>(eight. four. seven.)<p> 


	3. confused

**character**. hannah abbot.

**pairing. **justin/hannah/neville

**an. **meh.

* * *

><p><strong>confused<strong>.

she was confused,  
>to say the very least.<br>this beautiful, beautiful boy  
>loved her, and said he always would.<p>

justin finch-fletchley. hannah finch-fletchley.  
>it was really sort of expected,<br>to be honest,  
>because justin and hannah had been the best of friends<br>since the very first time they met.

everyone knew the story,  
>no one ever had to ask. it went:<p>

_hannah was shy, and justin was kind._  
><em>he took her hand when he saw her there<br>__and asked if she wanted to sit with him on the train,  
><em>_since neither of them knew anybody.  
><em>_and they were sorted together,  
><em>_and in class they sat together,  
><em>_and by sixth year they'd slept together._

so of course, the rules said  
>they had to get married. because they were nice,<br>and they were good and decent and kind and  
>ever so bland (everyone knows those hufflepuffs,<br>haven't you ever met a hufflepuff?)  
>they'd be together forever<br>because they'd wanted each other once.

but then, the war was over  
>and she was eighteen and he was nineteen<br>and she was just so tired of  
>the same routines they'd had since fifth year,<br>and he was bossy and rude  
>and she was itching for change<p>

and along came someone from school -  
>neville longbottom (<em>hannah longbottom? she wondered)<br>_ and swept her off her sensible feet  
>with his crooked teeth and gentle voice and<br>quiet sense of humor, so easy to miss if you weren't paying attention.

and it took six months of agony  
>of arguing with herself about what years meant,<br>and what the past promised and what the future held.  
>but finally she couldn't hide from herself anymore,<br>and she left justin.

but yes, she was confused,  
>because he cried, and he still loved her.<br>and even as neville was talking to her, laughing with her,  
>complimenting her eyes and recommending literature,<br>she was wondering if she'd made the wrong choice.

so when neville eventually asked her -  
><em>would you like to join me? a real date?<br>_she hesitated, bit her lip,  
>and said <strong>no<strong>.

told him she needed more time  
>to understand herself, and what she wanted.<p>

and maybe they'd end up together,  
>or maybe they'd end up apart,<br>but the amazing thing was - _it didn't matter_,  
>because either way,<p>

hannah had learned to choose herself  
>over pleasing somebody else.<p> 


	4. beauty, death

**character:** moaning myrtle. well, actually, olive's POV.**  
>pairing:<strong> myrtle/olive hornby

**an. **by request of Timemidae. enjoy :)

* * *

><p><strong>beauty, death.<strong>

i remember  
>she was beautiful<br>not like you or me

but in this, this  
><em>heartfelt<em> way,  
>this <em>quiet<em> way.

and i guess i just -  
>well, it scared me,<br>and more than just a little.

that i could see that  
>when i was only fifteen (and<br>she was almost a full year younger

than the rest of us.)  
>and she had these<br>soft eyes, brown eyes,

hidden behind thick glasses.  
>i was teasing her. cruel,<br>me, hateful -

_take off your glasses. they're,  
><em>_you're ugly, ugly, myrtle,  
><em>_ugly ugly fat myrtle,_

_you're too stupid to be one of us._  
>i said. and she cried<br>as usual, she cried. but

i halfway wanted her to  
>say something back,<br>to whip off those specs and

scream, cheeks bright red,  
>voice strong, angry,<br>and for once just stop me

like i knew she always wanted to.  
>but instead she<br>ran to the

bathroom  
>just like always,<br>and then,

she,

d  
>i<br>e  
>d<p>

,


	5. ocean

**character: **fleur delacour  
><strong>pairing: <strong>n/a

**an. **"why didn't you give me the name Ocean?" / "because you are beautiful like the flower."

* * *

><p><strong>ocean<strong>

when she was a little girl  
>she loved the ocean<br>and one day, drawing in the sand and  
>mesmerized by way the tide washed it all away,<br>she asked her mother:  
><em>pourquoi ne l'avez-vous pas me donner un nom Océan?<em>

and her mother replied,  
><em>parce que tu es belle comme une fleur.<em>

and so fleur was quiet, and accepted it:  
>it became etched like acid in her mind.<br>she was a flower, beautiful;  
>she could not be what she wished: the ocean.<p>

and as time slipped by, seconds & days & years,  
>the ocean grew to represent<br>all that she searched for in herself  
>and did not find.<p>

strength. hope. courage. love.  
>desire. anger. motion.<br>fluidity. rhythm. power. mystery.

and that indescribable something, that magic,  
>the kind no wand can create -<br>not sparks or feathers or a trick of the light,  
>but true, deep-down-inside magic.<p>

**.**

**.**

**.**

at age seventeen, someone whispered that  
>she was strong strong strong,<br>a powerful witch, a girl you shouldn't mess with.  
>it stuck in her mind,<br>and in her sketchbook, she drew herself with ocean eyes.

and a year later, she was named the most  
>worthy witch from beauxbatons,<br>and faced the strongest wizards of her age.

she lost, and remembered why her name was fleur -  
>empty-headed beauty,<br>and it was a fluke she got in at all.

she drew lilies & roses, honeysuckle & vines,  
>but not water, never water;<br>she could not bear to remind herself  
>of her failure, her weakness.<p>

but not long after that,  
>she grew up. and she was<br>in love and fighting for what she believed in  
>and she was brave and strong and happy<br>and full of hope.

**.**

**.**

**.**

the night he proposed, she told him  
><em>i want to live by the ocean<em>


End file.
